You have to wonder whether Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) actually believed he could skate into California’s governor’s mansion without any meaningful scrutiny of his past conduct. It’s plausible he assumed that, as a Democrat running in a reliably blue state, earlier controversies would be largely overlooked.
But in the wake of his attorneys’ vigorous — and very public — efforts to block the FBI’s release of the Fang Fang files, along with recent revelations about campaign funds allegedly used to pay his wife for “babysitting” their children, a new scandal now threatens to derail his gubernatorial ambitions.
Over the weekend, Democratic attorney Cheyenne Hunt — a former Swalwell staffer, liberal podcaster, and executive director of the left-leaning nonprofit Gen-Z for Change — posted a damning thread on X outlining allegations of sexual misconduct and non-disclosure agreement abuse involving a “pretty shocking” number of his former interns and aides.
Hunt claimed that she has been working “with a number of women who are in the process of coming forward and sharing their stories of sexual harassment and even alleged abuse at the hands of Eric Swalwell.
“I got involved because the first victim who approached me is a close friend, but when I saw that there were others who’s experiences fit the same pattern of manipulation and abuse of power, I knew I couldn’t stay silent,” she wrote.
Hunt alleged that Swalwell “target[ed] employees, interns, and fans,” and “act[ed] as a mentor just to exploit that power. DMs and Snapchat messages. Allegations ranging from uncomfortable comments to potentially criminal conduct.”
After she spoke publicly about her friend’s experience, she said, “many brave women came forward and shared their stories with me.” Hunt was able to obtain pro bono legal representation for these women and “they are in the process of sharing information with reporters.”
According to Hunt:
The number of credible women who have come forward since I posted my video is pretty shocking and connecting them with the investigative reporting teams who have been working on breaking this for years has greatly expedited this process. I am confident this story will break soon….I spoke about this before the story broke to encourage other women to come forward and to help ensure this story breaks as soon as possible because I am not blind to the fact that this will obviously have implications in the CA governor’s race.
She emphasized that she is well aware of the risk she is “taking by speaking out publicly and [the] fact that if I were to lie about a powerful public figure on a platform of my size, I could easily be subject to a defamation lawsuit.”
Hunt further noted that, although she is a Democrat, she does not “believe in holding Republicans to a different standard than we are willing to uphold ourselves. No more predators in power, from either party, period.”
Just over a year ago, independent journalist Nick Sortor reported he had sat next to “a very inebriated” Swalwell at a Washington, D.C., restaurant the previous evening.
Below are excerpts from Sortor’s description of Eric Swalwell’s conduct during dinner. The account, posted on X, includes a video of Sortor confronting him the next morning on Capitol Hill.
I sat next to a drunk Swalwell at dinner for 90 minutes. He was IMMEDIATELY compromised by a group of lobbyists he’d JUST MET, spilling intimate details about his job and asking for HELP CHEATING ON HIS WIFE.MASSIVE national security threat. This guy should have his clearances revoked.Swalwell spent his dinner bragging about “ORGlES” on Capitol Hill, telling them he’s bored of his wife and “only wants to f*ck tens.”Worse, he spoke about ABUSlNG his power on the House Intel Committee (which he’s since been booted off of), saying he pushed to SUBPOENA Ivanka Trump because she’s “hot as f*ck.”
The story received surprisingly little attention from the legacy media at the time. But several conservative outlets, including RedState and BizPacReview, reported on it.
Considered in the context of the new allegations of sexual misconduct reported by Hunt, Sortor’s account may come back to bite Swalwell.
California will hold a “jungle primary” in the gubernatorial race on June 2, with all candidates — regardless of party — competing on a single ballot. The top two finishers will advance to a November runoff.
The RealClearPolitics polling average currently shows former Fox News host Steve Hilton, a Republican, leading the race with 14.7%. Eric Swalwell follows closely at 13.7%, while another Republican, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, is hot on his heels with 13%.
Rounding out the field are former Rep. Katie Porter (D) at 11.3%, billionaire businessman Tom Steyer (D) at 10.3%, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra at 4.3%, and former California Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa at 4%.
The looming allegations against Swalwell have the potential to knock him out of the race. Although no one knows where those votes would go, it is entirely possible that Californians could elect a Republican governor in November. And that would be a beautiful thing.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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